In the fast-moving Indian e-commerce market, it’s important to keep current and we’ve got news highlights and the latest trends in the e-commerce industry you need to know. The head of Amazon India predicts there will be more than 10 million by 2020. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has lobbied Prime Minister Narendra Modi to undo recent restrictions that allow foreign e-commerce companies to only operate marketplaces but not sell their own inventory. Tracxn Technologies reported just $899 million was invested in India startups between January and May compared to $1.6 billion in 2015.
Amazon holds 15% market share in the Indian e-commerce market while Flipkart and Snapdeal together account for more than 70% share. Alibaba has a big challenge entering the market though it owns part of Snapdeal’s and is rumored to be considering an acquisition of Flipkart. Amazon is now setting the pace for e-commerce with more than 30 million unique website visitors, forcing its competitors to focus on customer satisfaction. Tata Group launched its ecommerce venture CLiQ after hundreds of millions of dollars in development.
Redseer Consulting reported a decline in sales at Snapdeal and Flipkart likely in part from Amazon’s growth in market share. Men buy three times more online, CoD remains popular and New Delhi and Mumbai account for 55.8% of e-commerce sales according to research by Sokrati. Indian Retailing featured the 10 most important women in e-commerce and reported women are now 15-17% of entrepreneurs. While still not profitable, Flipkart-owned fashion site Myntra expects sales to grow 90% in 2016. Microsoft launched its Microsoft Online Store on Tata CLiQ and will sell online and enable pickup and delivery at 500 locations. TechinAsia features a list of the top ten e-commerce stores in India.
E-commerce industry to be 10 million-sellers strong by 2020
Over 10 million sellers are expected to be online to cater to the huge growth in the customer base on such platform in the next four years, a top e-commerce industry executive said today.
“India’s internet users are soaring, and over 10 million sellers are expected to be online by 2020 to cater to the huge consumer base, be it through marketplaces or on their own,” Nitin Bawankule, Industry director at Google India said here today.
“Beauty and personal care, lifestyle including home and furnishings, and fast-moving consumer goods are the three categories that must focus on integrating their online and offline distribution to ensure seamless customer service,” he added, while addressing the retail industry at a conference. Via timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos wants PM Narendra Modi to let online marketplace have inventories tooAmazon CEO Jeff Bezos has lobbied Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow foreign investment-backed ecommerce companies such as the one he runs to operate hybrid models in India that are part marketplace and part inventory-led, said a person with knowledge of this.
Such a move, if accepted, would amount to a dramatic relaxation of the rules announced recently for online retailers with overseas investment. Under the March guidelines, ecommerce companies with foreign direct investment (FDI) can only function as marketplaces.
These are platforms that connect third-party vendors to buyers. But the ecommerce players can’t sell directly to consumers. Bezos is said to have sought the change during a meeting he had with Modi in Washington DC during the Indian Prime Minister’s trip to the US last week. This came after Amazon announced an additional $3 billion investment in India, the fastest-growing market for the Seattle-based online titan. Via economictimes.indiatimes.com
E-commerce in India: Funding plunges; here’s why
Amazon chief Jeff Bezos may have committed an additional $3 billion for his firm’s Indian operations but investors in a host of other e-commerce players seem to be tightening their purse strings. Data released by Tracxn Technologies show money isn’t moving into start-ups quite as freely these days as it was last year. Just $899 million was invested between January and May this year, far less than the $1.6 billion in the comparable period of 2015.
The number of deals — across Series A,B and C — at 73 this year is also smaller than the 94 in 2015. Among those that saw more money come their way are marketplaces such as Snapdeal and Shopclues, online travel firm Ibibo, online grocer BigBasket and CarTrade.
The value of investments in Series C funding, however, has risen. Ashish Fafadia, CFO and principal, Blume Ventures, points out that by the time a start-up is due for a Series C funding, the business model is more or less proven. “The next stage is about achieving profitability and scaling up operations so investors are willing to top up the investment,” Fafadia observed. Blume Ventures is an investor in Ola and had also taken a bet on TaxiForSure. The tighter funding environment is leading to consolidation in some e-commerce verticals, especially hyperlocals — Peppertap, for instance, has shut its grocery delivery business. Via financialexpress.com
Has Amazon Killed Alibaba’s India Dream?
After not being able to establish itself in China, where Alibaba controls a significant portion of the e-commerce market, Amazon is ensuring that it does not let go of the India opportunity. The company recently announced a $3 billion fresh investment in India, through which the company plans to make its supply chain more efficient. This is a huge investment, almost equal to Amazon’s global marketing costs in 2015.
While India holds strong growth potential in e-commerce and is being touted as a trillion-dollar opportunity, Alibaba is still looking to establish itself in the region. With Amazon’s huge investment, while local players such as Flipkart and Snapdeal will face the heat, Alibaba’s growth ambitions in the region will likely be significantly impacted. Amazon currently holds 15% market share in the Indian e-commerce market while Flipkart and Snapdeal together account for more than 70% share in this market.
Alibaba has a stake in Snapdeal and reports suggested that the company is also looking to buy a stake in Flipkart. Amazon’s significant investment in India clearly shows the company’s intent to seize significant share in the e-commerce market in the region. If Alibaba does not take proactive steps to establish itself in this market, it might lose out to Amazon in the region.
Alibaba’s Delayed Start In India Can Impact Its Growth
While Alibaba has been taking strategic stakes in several Indian e-commerce entities, the company recently began setting up its independent e-commerce business in India by hiring its core team. Alibaba is looking to build a prominent consumer facing online commerce business in India. However, Amazon has ensured that this will now be an uphill task for the company. India’s leading e-commerce player Flipkart has raised a total of around $ 3.2 billion since its inception in 2007 and Amazon’s fresh $ 3 billion investment is a clear indication of who the eventual big player will be. Even if Alibaba manages to acquire Flipkart, it will need to invest heavily in the Indian market and ramp up its operations quickly to compete with Amazon, which has already established itself in the region, even as Flipkart appears to be losing steam.
The Indian e-commerce market holds strong growth potential and both Amazon and Alibaba are looking to grab a significant share in this pie. According to a Goldman Sachs report, the Indian e-commerce market will be around $ 228 billion by 2030, slightly lower than today’s U.S. ecommerce market of around $ 280 billion, but 10 times as large as India’s current e-commerce market. As the country witnesses economic growth leading to higher per capita income and broader internet penetration, e-commerce in the country can witness exponential growth. Amazon believes that Indian e-commerce is a trillion-dollar opportunity and both Amazon and Alibaba are working towards capturing this potential. via Forbes
Amazon sets the pace for e-commerce in India
Seattle-based e-commerce giant Amazon should be happy that even before it turns three in India on June 5, the company has emerged a leader in this market. Before rivals can protest, we are not talking numbers yet. The American player has won the first round simply because it has successfully pushed competition to change the narrative and metrics of the online play.
Earlier this week, the almost nine-year-old poster boy of Indian ecommerce, Flipkart, announced in three separate interviews that customer satisfaction would be its mantra from now on. GMV or gross merchandise value of goods sold on the platform, till now the benchmark for success, will be kept aside, said Binny Bansal, who became CEO of Flipkart in January. Not too long ago, Snapdeal CEO Kunal Bahl had the same to say about shedding the GMV goalpost.
In the process, both Flipkart and Snapdeal have endorsed what the American e-commerce major has always maintained and indirectly acknowledged Amazon’s heavyweight presence in this market. Via business-standard.com
India’s Tata Group enters ecommerce market with apparel and electronics website
India’s biggest conglomerate Tata Group launched an ecommerce venture on Friday, as it seeks to cash in on rising purchasing power in a market dominated by deep-pocketed international retailers and startups backed by global tech investors.
The group said it developed its Tata Cliq website over a year and a half at a cost of “several hundred million dollars” to be a marketplace for in-house and partner companies to sell apparel and electronics.
The move is in line with a second phase in Indian ecommerce development, with the some of the country’s oldest and largest corporations entering an industry established in the last five years by startups Snapdeal and Flipkart Online Services Pvt Ltd [IPO-FLPK.N]. Via reuters.com
India: Flipkart, Snapdeal see falling sales despite rise in internet users
According to a report on Thursday by Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, the number of Internet users in India grew by 40% in 2015 to 277 million. While the number of Internet users is growing rapidly, that of those transacting (or online shoppers) isn’t increasing at the same rate, start-up executives and investors said.
The large Internet base in India looks attractive but making money from users is another matter altogether, they said. For the first time in years, online retail sales in April were at a lower level than December of the preceding year, according to executives at top e-commerce firms. Gross e-commerce sales including discounts were at an annualized $15 billion in December, according to research and consultancy firm RedSeer Consulting.
Mint reported on 14 April that Flipkart’s sales haven’t grown month-on-month since November, while Snapdeal’s monthly revenue has declined since then. (Flipkart declines to disclose its numbers, but says it’s seen “healthy” sales growth. Snapdeal also denies its growth has dropped but doesn’t share its sales numbers). The two companies have been losing market share to Amazon India over the past 15 months. Via dealstreetasia.com
Indian ECommerce Trends: Men Shop 3X More Than Women, CoD Still Dominates
Men Make 3X More Online purchases
Even though it is popular belief that Women spend more time shopping, when it comes to online purchases, Indian men make 3 times more online purchases than women. Not only do men make more purchases, their conversion rates are higher than women with about 21% higher Average Order Value (AOV).
Delhi-NCR & Mumbai combined account for more than half of all purchases
Delhi-NCR and Mumbai alone account for 55.83 percent of all online purchases with Delhi-NCR accounting for over 36 percent. While there have been talks that Tier-II and Tier-III cities are driving sales, according to Sokrati report, Tier I cities account for 8 out of every 10 orders. Note: It might be completely different in case of mobile app purchases, as Tier-II & III cities typically order from mobile devices, which this report does not consider. Via trak.in
10 women entrepreneurs who matter in Indian e-commerce
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi being a torch-bearer of the sector – his ambitious Startup India initiative – the sector is booming for budding entrepreneurs, especially women, who are stepping up to show their skill and vision and proving their mantle in taking these budding ventures to scaling heights.
According to a report in The Hindu, Partner, E-commerce and Startups at KPMG, Sreedhar Prasad said that 15 to 17 per cent of entrepreneurs in e-commerce are women. “A few years ago, there were just 2-3 per cent,” Prasad added.
Looking at the boost in the numbers, here’s a list of ten women entrepreneurs in Indian e-commerce space who are making a difference in the sector and are crucial in building these successful businesses. Via indiaretailing.com
The Microsoft Store expands its e-commerce presence in India through new partnership
Microsoft has announced today that it will strengthen its e-commerce presence in India by opening a Microsoft Online Store on Tata CLiQ, the recently launched e-commerce portal of Indian company Tata group. The online merchant is “pioneering the phygital revolution in India” according to its CEO Ashutosh Pandey, which means that consumers will benefit from an improved experience through a combination of in-store shopping benefits and conveniences of online shopping:
The consumers will be able to buy their favorite Microsoft products and services using innovative services such as click online & PIQ up at store, return to store and ship from store through a large on-ground store network of partner brands. TataCLiQ.com phygital services will be available across 500 plus stores of 12 partner brands.
The new online Store will launch with attractive inaugural offers on Microsoft hardware such as the Surface Pro 4 as well as select Lumia smartphones like the 650 and the 550. Via Winbeta
Myntra aims to increase sales by 90% to this fiscal year
Online fashion retailer Myntra expects to increase gross sales by 90% to Rs.5,000 crore, net of discounts, this financial year by improving its product selection, adding new categories and re-opening its desktop website, even as it cuts spending on discounts, logistics and other operational costs. Myntra’s sales estimates do not take into account product returns.
The company which is owned by Flipkart Ltd, is on track to lowering its cash burn rates for the year ending March 2017 after keeping them constant last year, chief executive Ananth Narayanan said in an interview. He declined to disclose Myntra’s cash-burn target but according to documents with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), Myntra reported a net loss of Rs.729.2 crore for the year ended March 2015. Via dealstreetasia.com
Top 10 best ecommerce websites in India
Are you in a city that is too hot or too cold? Or do you just prefer luxury over unnecessary running around? Regardless of what personal reasons you have, in today’s world, the online market has been a blessing of Almighty that offers each Indian with a reason to shop more at the comfort of their home. With just one click when you can get your desired goods delivered to your doorstep, why would you even want to go offline shopping?
Fashionable apparel, classic electronic goods, highly popular home décor items and home appliances, you can get them all online. Grocery? You can get that too! Recharges? Well, that’s there too. Keep naming one by one and you will get all. Everything is possible in this new age of online shopping solutions.
Out of endless number of e-commerce sites storming the ecommerce business world, the top 10 best sites in India are as follows. Via techinasia.com
Editorial Update & New Summer Publication Schedule
That’s a wrap for a busy week in global cashback, e-commerce, retail, mobile commerce and VC news. Enjoy your weekend and we’ll be back with more news you can use on Monday. We’ll be shifting to a three-day Monday-Wednesday-Friday publishing schedule during the summer to give our team additional time for planning and development for a new and enhanced Cashback Industry News portal in the Fall. Stay tuned!